Creative Exposure

Here’s the second of two images of a wood fire from a recent photography workshop I was running in Central Victoria. You’d remember yesterday’s post, titled Controlling Exposure, which featured a more straightforward approach to photographing the subject in question. In the production of today’s image I was able to try a more creative approach.

During the long exposure I kept the camera relatively still for around 50% of the exposure time then moved it in a circular, clockwise orientation for the remainder of the exposure. Application of this technique means the camera literally grabs hold of highlights, in this case the flames, and drags them through in frame as though you were actually painting with light.

I had a lot of fun making this image and I hope you like the result and try out the technique for yourself.